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The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Rate: 10
Viewed: 6/04, 11/04, 12/08, 12/16, 1/21

ManCan
12/08: The Manchurian Candidate is a brilliantly made political thriller picture.

Now, remember the book was written in 1959 and the film was released in 1962 which was more than one year before JFK's assassination. The President knew of its existence and gave the filmmakers his expressed approval to go ahead with it. Hence, there's no telling if Lee Harvey Oswald saw the film or was inspired. Pretty chilling stuff.

Busts of Abraham Lincoln and his likeness are shown throughout because he was assassinated soon after the end of the Civil War. So, it's a tie-in of what was going to happen if you hadn't realized that. Anyway, the performances are impeccable. It's Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury, Janet Leigh, and Khigh Dhiegh who make the film a classic.

There are many excellent scenes. The three that stand out the most are the dream sequence, the conversation between Frank Sinatra and Janet Leigh on the train, and the ending with Marco and his boss running through the Madison Square Garden to stop the assassination plot.

All in all, The Manchurian Candidate is among the greatest pictures ever made.

12/16: The Manchurian Candidate, a one-time box-office failure, is bar none the greatest political thriller ever made.

Laurence Harvey will always be unforgettable as Raymond Shaw the tragic figure, and it's the best work by Angela Lansbury who's at her chilling best. Playing his character's mother, she was only three years older than Laurence Harvey.

Frank Sinatra gives a special performance, and this is the one I think the most of him for acting besides From Here to Eternity. The train scene with him and Janet Leigh is my favorite part. I love it when Frank karate-chopped the table. He actually broke his pinkie which would remain disfigured for the rest of his life.

John Frankenheimer has always been a great director, but The Manchurian Candidate is the number one of his oeuvre. If not for the dream sequence, which adds a dimension, the film wouldn't be the masterpiece as it is. In fact, he was slated to direct Breakfast at Tiffany's, but Audrey Hepburn said, "Who is John? Never heard of him." That's how he ended up as the director of The Manchurian Candidate, and we all can thank the stupid fool for it.

Frank Sinatra was rumored to have the film pulled from circulation due to JFK's assassination, and it wouldn't be re-released until 1987. But the fact of the matter is it happened in 1972, not 1963. It wasn't for that reason but to get more money in royalties for Frank Sinatra since he owned the rights to the film. Later, the studio purchased it back. According to IMDb, "the budget [of The Manchurian Candidate] was $2,200,000. Of that amount, $1,000,000 went for star Frank Sinatra's salary with another $200,000 for Laurence Harvey, leaving only $1,000,000 for everything else." Typical Frank.

All in all, The Manchurian Candidate is the gold standard of political thrillers.

1/21: My favorite Frank Sinatra picture, The Manchurian Candidate is simply the best political thriller ever made.

From Ferris Webster's complicated editing to John Frankenheimer's masterful direction to the superlative performances by Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury, Janet Leigh, and Khigh Dhiegh, it's difficult to believe the film was a box-office failure in 1962, having pretty much foretold JFK's assassination almost two years afterwards.

In fact, the only way the movie could be made is if JFK approved it while Frank Sinatra had to ask the man himself. Otherwise, there would be no The Manchurian Candidate. The President did think the story was quite good and laughed about it, having been keenly interested in who was going to play the mother. Only if he knew...

When I think of great scenes between a man and a woman, Frank Sinatra and Janet Leigh frequently come to my mind. Theirs is among the best I've ever seen in movies. I can think of a couple of others that are on the same level: Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity and James Caan and Tuesday Weld in Thief. Hence, Frank Sinatra and Janet Leigh should've been nominated for Oscars.

On the other side of the coin is the relationship between Laurence Harvey's and Angela Lansbury's characters. It's a tragedy, especially after the revelation was made that her son was selected to carry out the assassination plot. Speaking of it, how about the overuse of Abraham Lincoln to portend of what's to come?

All in all, The Manchurian Candidate is one of the best movies made.